25 May NOISEMAKER: Ali Maffucci

Highway to Well is both a personal journey to finding your inner balanced badass as well as a chance for us to support & celebrate each other and share our tales from the road. This week we’re hanging out with the lovely Ali Maffucci, queen of the kitchen, founder of Inspiralized, NY Times Best Selling author and zucchini-noodle obsessed balanced badass.

True to her Italian American background, Ali loves everything food – cooking, eating, reading food blogs, dining out, sharing food pictures and entertaining friends. Like us, she's that obnoxious person at the table next to you Instagramming their meal before digging in 😉 To Ali, nothing is better than having an unforgettable meal at a newly discovered restaurant!

When she's not in the kitchen cooking for Inspiralized, you can find her traveling, reading cooking magazines, dreaming at a coffee shop, walking around NYC with her DSLR, exercising (so that she can eat chocolate later!), and spending time with her family in New Jersey.

Ali has a passion for healthy eating and exercise and shares her fitness journey through her healthy fit instagram @GetInspiralized, where you can follow along with her weight loss story. Through eating Inspiralized, consistent exercise and a balance (our favorite word!), Ali truly believes that she is the healthiest version of herself and she hopes to inspire others to feel their best, always. She also recently launched a personal blog where she talks about everything that doesn't come in noodle form!

What were some of your more memorable milestones on your own personal journey?
Things that make me happy emotionally tend to contribute to "wins" in my personal health journey. The marriage to my husband, Lu, last year taught me what's important in life and if you focus on those things, the rest fall into place. When I found out I made the NY Times best-sellers list for my first cookbook, it motivated me to keep healthy and push even harder for my dreams. Seeing the outcome of your own efforts is the most inspiring part of a personal journey. Be your own inspiration, I always say!

BUMPS IN THE ROAD: What have you found most challenging and what has helped overcome those challenges?
There have been times when I felt very discouraged. I couldn't get out of the funk and I'd end up back in the same vicious cycle of over-eating, feeling bad for myself, feeling unmotivated and therefore not nourishing my mind and body. Eventually, I realized that I was feeling discouraged because of societal norms - I was comparing myself to other people that were in a completely different place in terms of body type, place in their lives, age, you name it. By embracing bio-individuality (no one person is the same and just because something works for someone else, doesn't mean it'll work for you), I was able to customize my health journey and really understand how my body works. Once I did that, it was smooth sailing (well, for the most part!)

What has been instrumental in navigating your own journey and what advice can you share with our community when it comes to maintaining a ‘healthy’ balance? Tomorrow's a new day! I can't stress that enough. It's okay to have a couple bad days here and there, but your recovery is what makes or breaks it. Whenever I have a bad night/day, the next day, I wake up with the resolve to have an extremely healthy day and forget about the day/night before. I refuse to feel guilty or shameful over food. Once you release yourself from those chains, you're free to enjoy food for what it is: something that nourishes you and makes you feel good.
What’s on YOUR Highway to Well mixtape?
Anything Drake, Beyonce or if I'm feeling meditative, Xavier Rudd on repeat.
What does your bumper sticker say?
There's a solution to every problem.